the monster looked out the window of his castle at the threatening sky.
perhaps , he thought. some weary travelers will seek shelter from the storm, and i will thereby have someone to talk to, and even listen to one of my stories.
and as he looked, a flash of lightning lit up the sky, and he saw two figures coming up the road.
they were betty and buddy.
the monster thought they looked familiar, as if he had known them in some previous life.
he hoped they would knock on the door of the castle.
as his last servant had left him just a few days ago, he went down the long staircases to the ground floor, so that he could open the door himself if they knocked.
when he reached the door and looked through the peephole, he saw that the boy and girl had come within a couple of hundred feet of the castle and were standing in the road arguing, and looking up at the sky.
he assumed they were arguing about whether to approach the castle, but who was taking which side of the argument he had no way of telling.
the girl seemed to be doing most of the talking and winning the argument, as the boy was slowly nodding his head to her torrent of words.
just then, another flash of lightning lit up the sky, accompanied by a tremendous blast of thunder, and the skies opened up and began pouring down dark rain.
abandoning the argument, the boy raced toward the castle door, and after a moment’s hesitation, the girl followed.
the monster happily flung the door open , and buddy stumbled in past him, followed by a gust of rain and betty.
“welcome to these humble lodgings,” the monster smiled with the best grace he could. he looked around at the dark cavernous hall of the castle’s ground floor, unlit by fire and barren of ornament. “i realize the furnishings leave something to be desired, but if you care to follow me, i will do my best to build a fire.”
betty looked suspiciously up at the monster’s bent hulking frame. “you must be the butler. where is your master? take us to him.”
“i beg your pardon, miss, but i am the master, and at present i am my own servant, as i have no other.”
“i see. so you make your own fire, and answer your own door. are you then your own cook?”
“at least for the moment, miss. are you looking for a situation?”
“um - no, thank you. we are just poor travelers, seeking shelter from the proverbial storm.”
“i thought as much. follow me, please, and i will do my best to provide the hospitality that custom dictates.”
betty and buddy followed the monster across the bare hall and down a long passageway lit by a few smoky torches.
the passageway was lined with pictures.
there were a few portraits, of ferocious and stern looking individuals, but most of the pictures portrayed stirring and dramatic and grisly scenes, under stormy skies and on windswept shores and battlefields.
“are these all your ancestors?” buddy asked the monster as he led them down the passage.
“indeed they are, young man.”
buddy stopped in front of a particularly large and detailed portrait, one which was located at some distance from the nearest torch, so that its particulars were somewhat obscured in the gloom of the passage.
“including this one?” buddy asked. betty exhibited some impatience at buddy’s curiosity but the monster seemed in no way put out, and looked back curiously at the picture buddy was enquiring about.
the picture portrayed a very busy scene on a beach, with a stormy sea and sky in the left background. along the beach were evidences of a shipwreck, but this was not the most striking feature. in the right background was a gallows, from which hung some dozen unfortunates.
the gallows was guarded by a line of soldiers in dark blue uniforms with muskets at the ready, and the tallest and straightest of the soldiers was being addressed in a wide eyed imploring manner by a young woman
with a partially bared breast and wearing a red gown which was the only spot of bright color in the composition.
“and which of the actors in this drama is your ancestor?” buddy asked the monster with a smile. ”the young woman in the red dress? one of the soldiers? one of the gallows birds?”
betty rolled her eyes at buddy’s impertinent questions, but the monster replied with a smile of his own,
“they all are, young sir. after all, we are all one, and everybody is everybody else’s ancestor.”
“yes of course,” buddy nodded.
“if you like, i will tell you the story of the picture, when we have made ourselves comfortable before the fireplace. would that suit you?”
“yes, it would, “ betty answered for buddy.
No comments:
Post a Comment